Power Steering

[Footofgod]

Reading in another thread gave me a thought. How hard would a runner be to drive without power steering? I drove the runner for a year before I even bothered to check the PS fluid. When I did it was empty. Added fluid and now I get tons of noise from the dang thing and don't seem to have any difference in steering. Tempted to just take the pump out. One less belt to worry about and less stuff in that cramped engine compartment. Any thoughts?

 

[SV_Dude]

The power steering system is self bleeding so it will take a little bit of time to get all the air out of the pump if there was air in the system to start with. Most likely, that is what you're hearing... a cavitated pump.

You can drive it without powersteering just fine with smaller tires. I have driven my light weight 4runner on 35's without power steering and when going slow it is horrible.

 

[Hyde802]

I have driven my light weight 4runner on 35's without power steering and when going slow it is horrible.

Thats where the issue lies. Youd probably be fine if all you did was road driving, but on the trail, youll want it.

 

[77'911]

You might try flushing out and changing it over to Mobil 1 synthetic ATF. It made quite a difference(smoother, less noise). The stuff is pricey, but works exceedingly well in certain applications. It also has worked well in our old BMW.
regards

 

[BucknutBob]

I would definitely keep it! Like the others mentioned, you might get by okay with normal driving, but you'll miss it terribly when the going gets slow and technical. It also helps cushion the kickback when on the trail--manual steering is the primary reason for the "thumbs-out" driving position (ouch!).